The mayor of New York and the NBA boss have both admitted confusion over the city’s vaccination rules
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver have admitted the rule preventing NBA superstar Kyrie Irving from playing at home for the Brooklyn Nets is unfair.
Unvaccinated Irving, who has been at the center of controversy over his decision not to get vaccinated and the ensuing debate, is not allowed to play Nets games at their Barclays Center home due to the mandate of vaccination in the city.
Frustratingly for Irving and his team, players from different markets can play in New York even if they haven’t been vaccinated.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio adopted the mandate in December 2021. “First of all, I think the rule is unfair,” said Adams, who took over from De Blasio earlier this year.
“The rule is unfair… I have a hard time with it”@NYCMaire on the vaccine mandate affecting Kyrie Irving and the NBA pic.twitter.com/Phrpg4FTu0
“I think we’re telling out-of-town athletes that they can come in and not be vaccinated.
“Still, New York athletes, you need to be vaccinated. And they do it for artists too.
“I want people to know that. Artists can come here unvaccinated and perform. I think that’s unfair. »
Adams joked that a fan of one of the Nets’ NBA rivals, the Boston Celtics, could have created the rule.
” I do not know, “ exclaimed the 61-year-old Democrat. “But I’m really, really suspicious of sending the wrong message.
Read more
Unvaccinated Kyrie Irving returns – it was morally questionable to put him away
“The closure of this city prevents me from sleeping at night. And the message that we put in place, the rule was put in place.
“To start changing it now, I think that would send mixed messages. So I struggle with that, just to be honest with you. »
NBA boss Silver echoed Adams’ dismay by saying between 97 and 98 percent of players in the league have been vaccinated.
“This law in New York, what’s strange to me is that it only applies to home players,” Silver told ESPN, adding that he felt the atmosphere in the city had changed and people were going out more regularly since some mask restrictions were lifted.
“If ultimately this rule is about protecting people who are in the arena, it just doesn’t make sense to me that an unvaccinated away player can play at Barclays but the home player can’t. To me, that’s a reason why they should take a look at this prescription. »
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was on ESPN this morning saying the NYC vax mandate was weird and he could see Eric Adams changing it.
It’s huge for Kyrie Irving. This is the first time the league has expressed this opinion. pic.twitter.com/AKdP1Af6KW
Silver said he “could see” Adams dropped the mandatory vaccination requirement and revealed that the league wanted to make vaccination a requirement for players, only for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to reject the move.
Nets coach Steve Nash hopes the vaccine mandate will change and Irving told reporters on Saturday he felt “no guilt”.
“I’m the only player who has to deal with this in New York because I play there” he observed. “If I was somewhere else, in another city, it probably wouldn’t be the same circumstances.
“But because I’m here, we have Eric Adams, we have the New York mandate, we have things happening that are real circumstances that don’t just affect me. So you ask me these questions, I don’t feel guilty.
Read more
NBA star who refused Covid-19 vaccine allowed to return to team
“I’m living my life as best I can, like everyone else who’s missed out on the past two years. I didn’t have a plan in place while all of this was going on, I didn’t know that.
“The NBA and NBPA have made it clear that there are things I could do to work around this issue. And it’s not planned.
“So are you telling me am I just alone here, or do I have the support of everyone else facing the same thing?” »
The spread and impact of Covid appears to be abating through the measures indicated by public data produced by New York City authorities.
The figures indicate that there have been more than 360,000 additional Covid cases among those who have not been vaccinated since the vaccination program began, and records more than four and a half times more deaths among those who have not. vaccinated than those who have since been vaccinated. treatments have been made available.
